Garment hanger



July 1, 1947. F, mu-na 2,423,369-

' GARMENT HANGER Filed Oct. 9, 1945 INVEN TOR. BRU/VNER Patented July 12, 194? UNlED s'mrss LATENT OFFICE GARMENT 1 HANGER Francis R. Brunner, Los Angeles, Calif. Application October 9, 1945, Serial No. 621,264

9 Claims.

This invention relates to garment hangers and an object is to provide a hanger adapted to be formed of metal or plastic material and so arranged that it may independently or at the same time support mens and womens coats, slacks or trousers.

An object, also is to provide a hanger which embodies a coat supporting portion of usual and well known contour and a slack or trousers supporting portion which is adjustable for gripping the bottoms of the legs of the slacks or trousers or for releasing them from their supported position.

A further object is to provide an integral hanger formed of sheet material with corresponding spaced side walls arranged with inwardly projecting longitudinal beads near the lower edges of the side walls and a supporting hooked rod vertically disposed midway of the ends of the hanger and having a cam attached to its lower extremity and having its periphery engaged with the beads on the walls so that when the supporting hook is rotated the side walls will be spread apart as for the purpose of receiving the bottom ends of a pair of trousers or contracted into frictional engagement with the trouser legs for removably holding the trousers on the hanger.

A still further object is to form the hanger with readily extensible and contractible portions of the side walls separated from the end portions of the hanger as by means of kerfs. Other and more detailed objects will appear as the description of my improvements progresses.

It is well known that garment hangers usually include a'single coat supporting bar which has its ends downwardly inclined from a central portion thereof and which conforms generally to the shape of a coat or the like, together with a longitudinal bar connecting the ends of the upper bar and on which a pair of trousers is hung at a point midway between the waist line and leg ends thereof. Other hangers provide merely a clamp having opposed portions between which the leg ends of trousers or the waist portion of a skirt when folded are held.

The essence of this invention is to provide a combination coat and trouser hanger which is of integral character and will afford a user the benefits of the usual devices and which in addition are capable of adjustment for gripping and releasing garments supported thereon, at will.

I have shown a preferred form of garment hanger embodying my improvements in the accompanying drawing, in which: a

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View, partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a similar view on a reduced scale showing a modification thereof;

Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary enlarged sections on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing, respectively. the

side walls of the hanger in contracted and expanded positions;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan in section on line 66 of Fig. 2.

I prefer to form the hanger of a single sheet of resilient material drawn as by means of a press into the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or if more desirable or economical the same may be formed of two similar sheets of material welded or otherwise secured together on a median line as viewed in cross section. In any event the hanger includes similar side Walls which are either continuous at their upper edges or are formed to provide a top 3 which is arcuately formedas at 3a and slopes downwardly therefrom as at 3b, 3b to points of junction with horizontal side portions 4, d which may be slit or kerfed as at ta, ta from points at the bottom edges 5 upwardly to about the planes of inwardly turned heads 6, 6 which as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 are transversely opposite.

Midway of the ends of the hanger I provide a vertical rod 1 adapted to be rotatably mounted in top portion 3a as by means of a bearing plate 8 welded or otherwise fixedly secured to top portion 3a. Rod 1 carries on its lower end a cam 9 which is peripherally grooved at H! for continuous engagement with the beads 6 of the side walls. Said cam may be of any desired form but preferably is elongated so that it has a major and a minor diameter, whereby when the cam is rotated in one direction the side walls 4, 4 will be spread apart and when rotated in an opposite direction they will close together due to the resiliency of the material of the hanger for, respectively opening the sides to receive and closing them for gripping and holding garments on the hanger.

I may provide, as shown in Fig. 2, either with or without the kerfs 4a, additional kerfs 4b, 4b at points spaced from and on opposite sides of cam 9 whereby the hanger is subdivided into a central portion do and end portions 4d, 411. In this form of device the central portion 40 may serve to support trousers and skirts while the remaining portion of the hanger Will serve to support coats and the like. Also, the tensioned portions of the hanger will comprise only the two opposed wall sections to, ie, the bottom edges 5, 5 constituting gripping portions between which the ends of the garments are held, as the hems of skirts or the cuffs of trousers. To such end the portions 5 may be bent inwardly and upwardly as shown in Figs-3 and 4.

It will be noted that the body of the hanger is of thin and elongated U cross section and is formed of thin sheet metal, or perhaps in some cases of plastic material, but in any event of sufllcient inherent tension as to insure the contraction of the sides when the supporting member I is turned to a given position. The kerfs 4a or 4?), or both, are so located as to afiord only a local spreading apart of the areas adjacent the gripping edges-5 and the'extent to which :the gripping edges may be .spread will depend upon the thickness of the material of which garments are made. Usually the hem of a skirt or the cuiis of trousers are inserted above the upturned gripping edges 5 and but slight opening of the hanger is required.

The groove of cam 9 and the inwardly .formed beads 6 of the sides 4 are complementary and, because the cam is in continuoustengagementwith the beads, the supporting member I is retained in operative position.

I claim:

1. A combination garment hanger comprising: a double walled body formed with opposite side walls formed-to'aliord a coat hanging portion and having corresponding portions thereof tensioned to grip and hold portions of garments, and a supporting member -mounted at a point mid-way of the extremities of and between transversely opposite portions of the body and manually operable for spreading said side walls apart "to receive a garment and when reversely moved to permit the gripping oi the garment by sidewalls.

'2. A garment hanger comprising: a body formed with corresponding side portions having horizontal gripping edges and relatively inclined edges extending upwardly in opposite directions from said gripping edges to a central point of junction, a supporting member carried on and between said side portions at a position midway of the extremities of the side portions, andmeans carried by said supporting member in a plane adjacent said gripping edges and rotatable by the supporting member for expanding and permitting the contraction of the gripping edges to respectively, receive and grip garments therebet-ween.

3. A garment hanger comprising: a body formed with corresponding side portions having horizontal gripping edges and relatively inclined edges extending upwardly in opposite directions from said gripping edges to a central point of junction, a supporting member carried on and between said side portions at a position midway of the extremities of the side portions, and means carried by said supporting member in a plane adjacent said gripping edges and rotatable by the supporting member for expanding and permitting the contraction of the gripping edges to respec tively, receive and grip garments therebetween, said side portions being kerfed upwardly from the gripping edges thereof so as to permit the spreading of local portions of the side members adjacent the gripping edges at least to a greater extent than the remaining portions of the side members.

4. A garment hanger comprising: a body formed with corresponding side portions having horizontal gripping edges and relatively inclined edges extending upwardly in opposite directions from said gripping edges to a central point of junction, a supporting member carried on :and between said .side portions at a position midway of the extremities of the side portions, and means carried by said supporting member in a plane adjacent said gripping edges and rotatable by the supporting member .=for expanding and permitting the contraction of the grippin ed to respectively, receive and grip garments therebetween, said side portions and said supporting member having cooperating complementary portions in continuous engagement.

5. A garment hanger comprising: a body formed of sheet material and of thin and elongated U cross section and with corresponding upper edge portions leading from acommon horizontal plane to a central point of junction for supporting a coat or the like and tensioned gripping edges horizontally connecting the extremities of said inclined portions, a supporting member rotatably carried by and between sides of the body, and cooperating mean on the supporting member and on the body adjacent the gripping .edges for spreading the gripping edges apart against the inherent tension thereof.

6. A garment hanger comprising: a body formed of sheet material and of thin and elongated U cross section and with corresponding upper edge portions leading from a common horizontal plane to a central point of junction for supporting a coat or the like and tensioned gripping edges horizontally connecting the extremities of said inclined portions, a supporting member rotatably carried by and between sides of the body, and cooperating means on. the supporting member and on the body adjacent the gripping edges for spreading the gripping edges apart against the inherent tension thereof, said body being kerfed upwardly from the gripping edges at points to permit the local expansion and contraction thereof at desired points.

7. A garment hanger comprising: a tensioned body formed with cooperating gripping members for receiving and holding garments, and a rotatable supporting member engageable with portions'of the gripping members for expanding said members and permitting the contraction thereof when the supporting member is operated in opposite directions.

8. A combination garment hanger comprising: a body formed with spaced side walls affording a conventional coat supporting portion and trouser and skirt supporting portions integrally formed with the side walls, and a supporting member having means thereon arranged between the walls of the body engageable with corresponding surfaces of the trouser and skirt supporting portions for separating the trouser supporting portions or" the side walls from one another into positions ior'receiving garments.

'9. A grament hanger comprising: a body formed with conventional coat supporting portions and expansible trouser supporting portions, and a supporting member having means thereon engageable with corresponding surfaces of the trouser supporting portions for expanding the trouser supporting portions into positions for receiving garments, the expanding means for the trouser supporting portions including a peripherally grooved cam fixed to the supporting member, and beads internally formed on the body and in engagement with the groove on said cam.

FRANCIS R. BR'UNNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references :are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,200,669 Cook May 14, 1938 536,483 Bonner .Mar, 26, .1895 

